With Tax Deal Cut GOP Has No More Excuses On Todays DREAM Act Stand Alone Vote

Submitted by Kristian Ramos on 12/8/10

There have been many reasons that Republicans have refused to vote on the DREAM Act:

1. Have to move on Border Security, before we get to any legislation like DREAM Act:

Senate Judiciary member Jeff Session commented:

“In short, this bill would be a disaster,” Republican Senator Jeff Sessions said. “Yet Democrat leaders remain committed to their push for this amnesty. They are again defying the public will and sending the world a message that our nation is not serious about the integrity of our borders and our laws.”

2. It was attached to the Defense Authorization legislation along with Dont Ask Dont Tell:

Arizona Senator John McCain noted that:

"This is turning legislation related to our national defense and military preparedness into a vehicle to force a partisan agenda through the Senate," he said. "What's worse, the majority leader is pushing this controversial agenda under the cover of supporting our troops, knowing that the National Defense Authorization Act is a must-pass bill, and whatever else is in it will inevitably become law as a result."

3. There would be no movement forward on the DREAM or any other legislation, unless there was first a deal on tax cuts.

The Senate GOP have just released a letter saying that they will block votes on any legislation that does not extend the Bush era tax cuts. The tax cuts in question are for those who make over $250,000 a year. As is, Senate Democrats would like to extend the tax cuts to all those who make less than $250,000 and allow the tax cuts for the wealthy to expire. The full letter from the Senate GOP to the Senate Majority Leader is posted HERE.

Well, Congress has released unprecedented resources to secure the border, the DREAM act is now a stand alone piece of legislation has not been added to any other vehicle and will be voted on its own merit and the Democrats have struck a deal with Republicans to extend Tax Cuts to the wealthy for two years. 

Not to mention all of the changes made to the actual legislation to make it easier for conservatives to vote:

The new legislation is different from other versions of the DREAM Act in four ways:

  1. There must be 10 years of temporary status vs. the previous 6 years in order to be eligible for benefits.
  2. The New Legislation bars those eligible for DREAM Act from access to health care subsidies.
  3. The Age cap on those who are eligible is now 30 as opposed to in previous versions where the age was 35.
  4. Removal of the language that would have not punished states for providing in-state tuition.

Despite all of this many GOP members remain on the fence. The fact remains that the GOP has gotten just about everything they asked for on this vote.

If DREAM does not pass make no mistake it will not because Democrats did not try to bring them to the table. It will simply be because they dont care about military preparedness, helping our economy or giving disadvantaged children an opportunity to help America be great.